I am very pleased to be joined by my first male guest this week!

John Van Regenmorter from Stepping Stones Ministry shares his story of infertility and how it affected him and his wife, Sylvia, differently. He describes his confusion at why his wife would feel the need to see an infertility doctor and he talks about how his male ego was bruised when they found out his low sperm count was part of their infertility problem.

It was only after Sylvia wrote an article about infertility that John fully understood just how hurt she was during this ordeal and he describes his guilt about not being more supportive of her.

You will realize while listening to John that infertility is not just a woman’s problem. Nearly 40% of infertility problems involve male infertility. It’s very important for men to get checked as well so the doctors can have a full picture of what obstacles a couple needs to overcome to get pregnant. 

Thank you, John, for sharing the male perspective of infertility!

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Welcome to Show #36!

This week I am pleased to continue my conversation with Jodi Panayotov, the author of Invitro Fertility Goddess and a sister from Australia. I am still amazed at her ability to find humor while longing for a child and we share some very special passages from her book. Each passage touched my heart and I could relate to everything she has described.

Jodi shares her invitro (IVF) experiences, some of which might surprise you. She even managed to overcome her fear of needles and found a way to laugh when faced with taking so many different drugs. No matter what stage you are at in your journey to your child, Jodi can help lighten your mood and your heart!

Also, if you live in the Pittsburgh, PA area and are contemplating adoption, our founding sponsor, Tina Tyra from A Labor of Love Adoptions, is hosting two workshops at the end of March.

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When I was reading Jodi Panayotov’s book, InVitro Fertility Goddess, there were certain excerpts that I completely related to.  Actually, quite a few.  And there were some that made me laugh outloud.  Actually, quite a few.  And I want to share one of those with you here.

“Suffered much indignity on Saturday when I had to take freezer/picnic bag of syringes and injectables on drive to the mountains for my husband’s birthday lunch, then along the way had to find a place to be injected.  Pulled over at an idyllic country lane roadside and my brother and his wife went for a walk while we fiddled with syringes, swabs, etc. like a pair of junkies.  Had to pull my pants down and lie face down on the back seat while my husband crouched outside and injected me in each cheek.  It is instances like these that I cannot remotely connect with having a baby, so at least I’m not obsessing, as I feel more like I am in a strange scientific governmental experiment that is more likely to give information on effects of radioactive solution on the human body or a cure for cancer.  I will be very happily surprised if it results in a baby.” 

Any of you who have gone through invitro, and had tried to maintain some sort of normalcy in a social aspect, can probably relate to a time or two (or more) when you found yourself in awkward situations at ‘injection time’.  And for those of you who are in the midst of a cycle, contemplating how to continue on with normal activities, don’t feel like you’re alone when you have to ’shoot up’ in semi-public places.  It’s part of the crazy adventure of invitro that you might find yourself in.  Just do what you gotta do, and think of all of us other ’sisters’ who did the same thing in the quest for baby!  You just might find yourself in the successful percentage, as did Jodi. 

I have been asked by some about the e-book I had spoken of a while back by Shola Oslo, and how to reach her.  This is the only way I know of in regard to getting her information.  Go to NaturalFertilityCures.com.  You can sign up there for her e-mails.  Not to fear, however.  It isn’t that you will be bombarded with e-mail from her and her company.  And some of the emails will have links to videos that pertain to different aspects of infertility.  But if you open the additional page that comes up on her site, you will be able to read quite a bit of information.  That is where you can order her ebook(s).  There’s some eye-opening information in the ebook I had downloaded, and so I would therefore recommend her and her nutritionist’s book, as it is quite interesting and thought provoking.  It has helped educate me in the effect our everyday world has on us when it comes to our fertility.  It has also resulted in some changes in my everyday life that I would have never thought of prior, that have led to a healthier me.  I hope this helps for those of you wondering about Shola. 

And coming a little later, some amazing thoughts and excerpts from my current guest’s book.  Of course I’m speaking of Jodi Panayotov and her book, InVitro Fertility Goddess.  So check that out later today.